Two teams added snappers this week. Carson Tinker returns to Jacksonville where his career started in 2013 after Ross Matiscik suffered a shoulder injury this weekend. Matiscik is expected to return soon.
Today, the Broncos signed rookie Jack Landherr who was in rookie mini-camp with Denver. He will compete with Mitch Fraboni.
With the college football season just weeks away, some top long snappers have been selected to pre-season All-American teams.
Phil Steele always includes long snappers in his excellent annual College Football Preview magazine. In addition to including all-conference snappers for each FBS conference in the magazine, he also selects an All-American Team consisting of snappers on the First through Fourth teams.
This year, Joe Shimko (NC State) was First Team, followed by Michael Vinson (Notre Dame), Randen Plattner (Kansas State) and Sean Wracher (Indiana). All four are also on the Watch List for the Patrick Mannelly Award.
FCS snappers also earned some time in the spotlight, as STATS Perform chooses three All-America teams, including long snappers. First Team this year is Tommy Sullivan (Montana State), followed by Hunter Brozio (North Dakota State) and Nick Levy (William & Mary).
HERO Sports also included a long snapper on its All-American Team, selecting Jason Loncor (Alcorn State).
With the full slate of NFL pre-season games coming this week it is a good time to look at recent transactions involving snappers.
Zach Wood of the Saints signed a four-year contract extension to keep him under contract until 2027. He would have been an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Jake McQuaide, who signed with the Lions during veteran free agency, was released leaving Scott Daly as the only snapper on the roster. The Cardinals waived recently signed Jack Coco, leaving Aaron Brewer as the sole snapper.
Three snapper had recent tryouts. The three were Erik Dickerson (Texans), Bradley Robinson (Steelers) and client Jordan Silver (Commanders).
The Watch List for the Patrick Mannelly Award, given annually to the snapper deemed to be the best from all FBS teams, was announced this afternoon. This is the 5th year for this prestigious Award.
There are 25 long snappers on this initial list and other snappers will be under careful consideration this college football season.
Ten semi-finalists will be announced on November 13, 2023 and those names will be narrowed to three on November 27, 2023.
Three finalists will be invited to a live ceremony on December 9, 2023 in Lake Bluff, Illinois where the Award will be presented. The Award benefits Bernie’s Book Bank, a non-profit organization located in Lake Bluff and is being presented by Zebra again this year.
Below is the Watch List.
Every NFL team has started training camp and two teams immediately made changes at the snapping position.
Nick Moore of the Ravens will miss the season with a torn achilles suffered during an off-season workout and rookie Matt Hembrough of the Cardinals was also placed on injured reserve with a back injury.
The Ravens signed veteran Tyler Ott after also working out Ryan Langan and Shane Griffin. Langan and Griffin both snapped in the USFL this season.
The Cardinals signed Jack Coco, who spent last season snapping for the Packers. The Cardinals also worked out another USFL snapper, Jordan Ober, before signing Coco.
A few NFL teams open training camp today with their rookies reporting. With camps opening, seven NFL teams have two snappers on the roster.
The Steelers became the latest team to add a snapper after signing Rex Sunahara late last month. Sunahara has previous experience with Pittsburgh as a practice squad member at the end of the 2021 season.
The other teams that have two snappers heading into training camp are the Cardinals, Lions, Packers, Patriots, Giants and Buccaneers.
Organized team activities conclude next week in the NFL and two teams have tinkered with the snapping position.
The Cardinal re-signed veteran Aaron Brewer. Brewer’s season was cut short in December last season but he is now recovered.
With the addition of Brewer, the Cardinals waived Joe Fortunato who signed a reserve/future contract in January. Rookie free agent Matt Hembrough is also on the Arizona roster.
The Steelers have tried out a number of snappers and could add one for training camp. Antonio Ortiz, Jack Coco, Robert Soderholm, Rex Sunahara and Scott Meyer all worked out for Pittsburgh the last few weeks.
With each team conducting rookie mini-camp the past two weekends, the long snapping landscape in the NFL is becoming a bit more clear.
First, the Jets signed veteran Thomas Hennessy to a new four-year contract earlier this month. Hennessy would have been an unrestricted free agent after this upcoming NFL season.
With respect to the NFL Draft, a total of six snappers signed undrafted free agent contracts. One, Broughton Hatcher from Old Dominion, was signed by the Packers after a mini-camp tryout. With his signing, the Packers waived its snapper from last season Jack Coco who was also signed following a tryout. Hatcher will compete with the recently-signed Matt Orzech.
A special mention is also warranted for Nick Boyle, who spent 8 seasons as a tight end with the Ravens and tried out with the Steelers as a long snapper this weekend.
There are also a number of unsigned veteran free agent snappers that may get calls as training camps approach or during the season. They are Josh Harris, Beau Brinkley, Matt Overton, Aaron Brewer, Tyler Ott and Carson Tinker.
Below is a chart summarizing the six snappers who signed contracts and 14 tryouts since the NFL Draft. If any tryouts were missed, please let me know at kevingold@longsnap.com.
Three snappers from the 2023 NFL Draft class have earned rookie mini-camp tryouts. The snappers are Brady Weas (Texans), Tommy Zozus (Jaguars) and Jake Hoffman (Chiefs).
Another snapper, Evan Deckers, earned a contract with the Buccaneers and became the fifth one to sign a contract so far.
Decker and the three tryout snappers join the five snappers, shown below, that earned contracts or, in one case, a tryout that were known as of Saturday evening.
With rookie mini-camps occurring this coming weekend and the following weekend, it is possible that more tryouts opportunities are coming.
Chris Stoll (Seahawks)
Alex Ward (Rams)
Matt Hembrough (Cardinals)
Cam Lyons (Giants)
Robert Soderholm (Seahawks-Tryout)
No long snapper was selected in the NFL Draft but at least a few have signed contracts or earned a tryout after the Draft.
While there may be more signings and tryouts announced over the next few days, here is what I have learned this evening, although not all are confirmed.
Chris Stoll (Seahawks)
Alex Ward (Rams)
Matt Hembrough (Cardinals)
Cam Lyons (Giants)
Robert Soderholm (Seahawks-Tryout)
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